So, in light of Prometheus, which I admired in some ways but which is primarily deeply flawed by its idiot plot of supposed scientists doing all the same stupid things that the freighter crew of the original Alien — where it might have been forgivable, given their relative unsophistication — did, I wondered, what is the best movie about doing *real science*? The first thing that came to mind was The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton’s first success, a movie fairly faithfully adapted from a book by an author with a medical PhD. And so I ordered a DVD of the film and we watched it last night. Hadn’t seen it in 30+ years; some key scenes were familiar though other parts seemed completely fresh. Anyway I was still impressed by its general scientific verisimilitude. io9, feel free to run with this — what are the most scientifically accurate movies of all time?? (I would include 2001, of course, for its scientifically accurate depiction of space travel, if not actually doing science. Of recent films, Contagion comes to mind. but what else?)
(I know, I’m even worse than Christopher Priest at updating my blog. But I’ve been busy! sfadb.com is coming, really!)
Contact — watching the team lose grants, while away the hours, then have their big discovery? Priceless.
Threshold with Donald Sutherland.
For real life, The Dish and The Right Stuff.
Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil — I remember admiring Sagan’s novel Contact very much, but being supremely annoyed by the film version in the scene in which Jodie Foster is being grilled before Congress, IIRC, about her belief in God. She should have been given much better lines. Haven’t brought myself to see the film again.
Haven’t seen Threshold or The Dish…
The movie Charly, adapted from Daniel Keyes’ story Flowers for Algernon. Haven’t seen it in awhile but remember being impressed by the use of computers (in 1968) to analyze test results, and Cliff Robertson’s wonderfully understated conclusion that the medical procedure that made him smart was “scientifically premature”.